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Legion Class
The second ship of the Ornith Series to enter service, the Legion Class was the first vessel to mount twin Plasma Torpedo Tubes. Designed to support a planned Battlecruiser (the Garuda Class), the Legion however found new use as a screen for Romulan Capital Ships and in support of War Bird Class Destroyer flotillas. Development In 2267, whilst KR Series vessels imported from the Klingon Empire were useful additions to the Romulan Star Navy, there was concern in the Senate that the Star Empire was becoming dependent on Klingon military materiel and neglecting the development of native technology as a result. A new technological programme was launched to provide new, entirely Romulan warships for the RSN. This design programme became known as the Ornith Series, and one of the first designs to be approved was that of a Frigate. This late 2260s design had a number of flaws however, namely that she still relied on fusion power, and lacked any weapon more formidable than the increasingly obsolescent Cohesive Fused Deuterium Irradiation Cannon. Production of the new design was put on hold until a number of concurrent programmes in the fields of weaponry and propulsion could bear fruit. In 2275 Romulan engineers produced a working, reliable M/AM powered warp drive. Priority was given initially to refitting the Cricket Class Destroyer, resulting in the War Bird Class of 2278. Once this programme neared completion, all effort ways turned to introducing new, powerful, M/AM powered designs. The first of these designs was a revived and updated version of the 2269 Frigate design. An unexpected side effect of M/AM research was that the technology designed for plasma flow to warp nacelles could also be employed to refine and perfect a lighter, less power hungry version of the Plasma Torpedo. Previously, plasma flow had been too inefficient to make a reduced power version viable, but now a torpedo with approximately 1/3rd the yield and power requirements of the standard Plasma Torpedo and capable of being charged in just over half the time. Whilst less efficient overall than the existing Plasma Torpedo, this new Light Plasma Torpedo did allow a weapon of significant power to be fitted to smaller and lighter vessels. In this role, the new Type L Plasma Torpedo Tube came to replace the old CFDIC as the weapon of choice on light Romulan designs. The Gladius Class Frigate entered service shortly after, albeit with a single Type L Plasma Torpedo Tube and a CFDIC as a back-up weapon. Limited peace-time weapons range experience proved the Light Plasma Torpedo was a reliable and efficient weapon. Using a scaled up Gladius Class hull, and designed with a pair of Type L Plasma Torpedo Tubes as her main offensive weapons, a design for a new Light Cruiser took shape. Named the Legion Class, she was intended to complement a larger Battlecruiser design known as the Garuda Class. Due to power consumption issues (and the Romulan doctrine using Secondary Weapons as the primary means of attack), the Legion was fitted with just a pair of Disruptor Cannons on her wing tips. These were intended essentially for self-defence. Operational History The Legion entered service in 2281 as the second of the new Ornith Series warships. Her Battlecruiser counterpart, the Garuda Class, entered service a year later, but immediately there were issues. She was no better armed in terms of torpedo weaponry than the War Bird Class Destroyer, and although her clutch of five Disruptor Cannons was formidable, she didn't match the tactical doctrines of the RSN. Only a limited number of Garudas entered service, and soon the Legion's intended role as a screen for the larger warship had all but disappeared. Instead, she was employed in fleet manoeuvrers alongside War Bird Class Destroyer flotillas. In this role she excelled, covering the slow-firing warships whilst they recharged their Heavy Plasma Torpedoes. First blood for the Legion came with the 4th Gorn-Romulan War of 2282. As earlier fleet manoeuvres had shown, she soon proved an invaluable part of the Romulan battle line. When the new Type M Plasma Torpedo was introduced in 2285, the Legion was not refitted with the heavier weapon as it was felt the more rapid rate of fire of the lighter Type L was bettered suited to the role the Legion had become renowned for. Whilst other Romulan vessels were known for their massive Alpha Strike capabilities, the Legion was the shield of the fleet, using her rapid firing torpedoes to harass the enemy whilst larger warships recharged for another attack. Some examples were even fitted with captured Gorn Graviton Harmonic Resonance Cannons. She performed this role admirably through the Organian Conflict and the War of Pacification, and by the end of the war was ironically working alongside the Centurion Class, a refit of the failed Garuda refitted with Type M Plasma Torpedoes and reclassed as a Heavy Cruiser. She was rumoured to have seen some combat during the Klingon Ormong of 2291, and saw action again during the General War against the forces of the Gorn Royal Navy. Apocrypha After her involvement in the Praxis Incident of 2293 was revealed, the Romulan Star Empire began to once again withdraw behind her borders, withdrawing from galactic affairs again all together in the aftermath of the Tomed Incident in 2311. Even before this time, Romulan tactics had begun to turn away from fleet engagements and back to single "lone wolf" warships, now of a gargantuan size dwarfing the Crickets and Capsize Classes of old. The Legion however found new life as a border patrol ship, and was kept in service longer than any other the Ornith Series, reportedly lasting until the 2330s. Specifications * Class: 'Light Cruiser * 'Hull Type Designation: '''RCL * '''Length: 168m * Crew: 235 * Warp Nacelles: '''2 * '''Maximum Sublight Speed: 3525 k/s (35.25 Mk/s) * Cruise Warp Factor Speed: wf 7.4 * Safe Maximum Warp Factor Speed: wf 8.6 * Hull Rating: '220 HSF * 'Shield Rating: 277 FSP * Sensor Rating: 1000 SRU * Armament and Equipment: ** Primary *** 2 × Disruptor Cannon ** Secondary *** 2 × Type L Plasma Torpedo Tube ** Heavy *** None ** Advanced *** None ** Equipment *** Tractor Beam Emitter *** Romulan-Type Cloaking Device *** Probes Ships in Service (2292) RSE Alens RSE Ambonia RSE Annapvs RSE Antonian RSE Apnex RSE Astia RSE Avlocivs RSE Cacvnivs RSE Canolivs RSE Celvlivs RSE Cilvates RSE Cliaerivs RSE Concinia RSE Cvcinivs RSE Droclex RSE Derelex RSE Flanganivs RSE Floritivs RSE Ganivs RSE Hatelber RSE Lasvntelivs RSE Lipvdrivs RSE Lvbinivsvs RSE Lvrtivs RSE Melvedivlvs RSE Metalolivs RSE Miacvs RSE Mvrvleivs RSE Noserenivs RSE Ontia RSE Ostadaerio RSE Petoria RSE Pollvlvs RSE Salinivs RSE Sanelivs Category:Romulan Vessels Category:Cruisers Category:Light Cruisers